Not of an Address.
“For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.”
GOD’S sentence of judgment had gone forth upon all the land of Egypt. His testimony by Moses had been again and again rejected, and now God’s hand must smite. His long-suffering has ran its course. He had repeatedly manifested His displeasure, but it had been unheeded. His patience could no longer endure. He said, “All the first-born in the land of Egypt shall die.... and there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt.” Thus death was threatened throughout all the land. God declared it should be. This was enough. The result we know.
And so now the word of God speaks of coming death and judgment. God’s testimony of abounding grace has sounded in men’s ears for a long time. “any have rejected it. Few believe the record He has given of His Son, and inevitable judgment is pending. The sentence has been passed— “now is the judgment of this world.” The executioner is coming— “The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power.” (2 Thess. 1:7-97And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, 8In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: 9Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; (2 Thessalonians 1:7‑9).) It is certain then that terrible judgment is coming, and that it is simply a question of time as to its execution; there surely will be sudden and everlasting destruction, and they shall not escape.
Nor could it be otherwise, for men are not only practical transgressors, but by nature unclean, and therefore unfit for God’s presence. Every trial has only proved man’s sinful and undone condition. God has tried man first, in innocence, then without law, and under law, by privileges, priesthood, prophets, kings, by the personal ministry of Christ, and now by the ministry of grace by the Holy Ghost; and all have proved man to be only corrupt and evil. Early in man’s history, God’s testimony was that “the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of man are only evil and that continually;” and still the declaration of God is that “The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Rom. 8:7,87Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:7‑8).) This is God’s verdict, and the sentence is final. Whether people agree to it or not, it is God’s righteous estimate of man. How terribly has he fallen! If these men in their natural state do not, and cannot please God, how can they be fit for His presence? The ways of men invariably prove that such is the heart’s condition; for if God commands he disobeys. If God sends His Son to bless and save, they hate without a cause, despise, and reject, saying, “This is the heir; come, let us kill Him, that the inheritance may be ours.” If God preaches pardon and peace, they will not believe. As therefore the judgment upon the Egyptians was deserved for rejecting God’s testimony, so the coming wrath is inevitable because of man’s terrible wickedness, and thorough unfitness for God’s presence.
Dear friends, do you believe that you are so utterly and incurably bad as God says you are? Do you not see that you cannot make yourself better, much less fit for God’s holy presence—that you really are, notwithstanding all your fancied improvements, only rushing headlong to the eternal judgment of the living God?
We may next observe that before the judgment actually come, God, in His pity and love proclaimed the way of escape. So He does by the gospel now. The people were told to take a lamb without blemish, to kill it, and to make the blood of the sacrifice the sole ground of their safety. And so the precious blood of Christ, the Lamb without spot and blemish, is the only ground of safety now. We have not therefore to seek a spotless lamb, for God has provided it, and it is slain, too. Jesus is the Lamb of God, His beloved Son, the Word which was made flesh and dwelt among us; and His blood has been shed, and shed too for sinners. “Christ has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust that He might bring us to God.” Nothing can be clearer than first, that judgment is coming; and secondly, that God has provided, and by the gospel, proclaims a way of escape in the atoning death—the precious blood of His beloved Son.
But the vital point in this narrative is that they availed themselves of the full value of the blood, by putting themselves under the shelter of it. This many do not do. They go no further than the bare knowledge that judgment is coming, and that Jesus is a Saviour. They do not believe to the salvation of their souls. The people were told to “take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood, and strike the lintel, and two side posts of their houses with the blood.” This being done, they were to remain in their houses all that night; in fact until the judgment had passed. In this way only could they be safe.
This is to us the vital point. Many stumble here, and are forever lost, for there is safety no where else.
“Nothing can for sin atone
But the blood of Christ done.”
They know they are sinners, and assent to the truth that Jesus died for sinners, and is the only Saviour; yet they do not avail themselves of the value of His atoning work. They do not take shelter in His blood as the alone ground of safety before God. This is unbelief. God declares that “without shedding of blood is no remission;” that it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sin; that in Christ we have redemption through His blood; and that the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin. There is not a sin too deep or too black, but that precious blood can wash away, for it cleanseth from all sin—sin of every sort and degree. Yes, it is the blood which maketh an atonement for the soul; and happy indeed are those who believe God’s testimony to the efficacy of the blood of Jesus, and know that blood to be their perfect security from the wrath to come.
What folly it is to pretend to be a Christian, and not believe God’s testimony to the atoning work and sin cleansing blood of Jesus. Oh, my beloved hearers, have you believed the record God has given of His Son? and are you sheltered by His blood from the coming wrath? Can you say you have no ground of safety or of peace with God but the blood of the cross?
Now let us see what God said to those who took Him at His word, and relied entirely on the sheltering power of the blood of the lamb. He told them two things. First, That the blood, (mark! not their feelings, or opinions, or even prayers, but the blood) and the blood only, was to be the token to them of their perfect safety. Come what might, they were to think of the blood, and they were to be in peace, because sheltered by it. “The blood shall be to you for a token in the houses where ye are.” This is most blessed. The cure for every fear, question, or suggestion of the enemy, was found in the divine assurance, “You are perfectly safe, because of the blood.” Secondly, God said: “When I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.” Thus we see that the blood answers every claim of God, and meets every need of our souls.
My dear hearers, be assured that God knows the heart that trusts in Christ. He knows every soul that has availed himself of that everlasting shelter, and He will never allow the sentence of condemnation to fall on such; for “There is now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” My beloved friends, let me solemnly and affectionately ask you if God, who reads every thought of your heart, sees that you have taken refuge from coming wrath in the blood of Jesus; and believing His testimony as to perfect safety through that blood, that you have peace before Him? Is it so? If not, why not now take refuge in Him who is at God’s right hand, the Lamb of God, and give glory to God, by finding every need of your soul met in the blood of His cross? Nothing can be more plainly taught in Scripture than that redemption is alone through the blood of Christ. We are told that Christ entered into the holy place with His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
But further, let us notice the results. The judgment did come according to the word of the Lord. In every house in Egypt where the blood was not, death lay prostrate the firstborn; and there was not a house in Egypt where the blood was, that the destroying angel entered. The most perfect safety was realized by all those who were sheltered by the blood. And so it will be; for the long of those who are brought to glory, and there forever gaze on the adorable Lamb of God, will be, “Thou art worthy, for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.” Not only redeemed from our lost and ruined condition, but redeemed to God, and all through the blood of the Lamb. This faith knows now, and the heart delights to say, “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (Rev. 1:5,65And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 6And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. (Revelation 1:5‑6).)
“Not half His love can I express,
Yet, Lord! with joy my lips confess,
This blessed portion I possess,
O Lamb of God in Thee!